Chapter 445: Love's Offering, Then Ask About Suicide

"Holding you in my hands, devoutly burning incense. Cutting a sliver of candlelight to illuminate the scriptures. Not asking for a soul-stirring romance, only asking to love once. Loving until the end, wounded, crying so desperately..."

"Offerings of Love" is absolutely a good song worth putting on repeat.

As long as you don't listen to it live, Yang Mi's singing, under the training of high-tech "ruthless skills," has a unique timbre; it flows naturally, never missing a note or going off-key, possessing its own unique charm.

No wonder it held the top spot on the Baidu song search rankings for over half a year this year, being sung in every street and alley.

No wonder Yang Mi will rely on this song next year to beat Na Ying, Han Hong, and Zhang Liangying at the CCTV-MTV Awards to win Best Female Singer of the Year, making her fans feel immensely proud whenever they mention it.

Chen Nuo, at an altitude of 30,000 feet, had it on infinite loop in his headphones, and for a moment, he was intoxicated by the artistic conception of the lyrics.

He wasn't joking with Yang Mi.

What qualifications did he have to point fingers at Yang Mi?

As a former close roommate and current good friend, although, to be honest, he did have some disagreements with some of Yang Mi's choices over the years.

But could he say anything?

No.

If he said too much, things would inevitably change for the worse.

He had to keep his distance and uphold the duties of a friend.

Chen Nuo was serious.

He really didn't intend to walk the old path of his past life. Abroad, it was just going with the flow, and sometimes there really was no other way. But domestically, he was determined to keep his zipper in check.

When Liu Yifei saw him off this morning, he could tell the girl was clearly not very happy.

As for the reason, although neither of them said it, it was practically self-evident.

It wasn't just because of another parting, as he wouldn't be gone for long this time; he would definitely be back before the New Year.

Strangely, Chen Nuo actually felt a little bit of guilt in his heart.

You have to know, even when Fan Bingbing gave birth to Ruoruo for him, he could remain clear-conscienced and righteous, even taking the initiative against Liu Xiaoli and making Auntie Liu swallow her pride.

But Wen Yongshan?

Why?

The sound of Yang Mi in his headphones grew more high-pitched.

"I use my whole life to offer you up, only hoping you stop your wandering gaze. Please grant me infinite power to love and be loved, so I can rest easy under the Bodhi tree, quietly contemplating..."

As a former singing companion of Yang Mi, Chen Nuo would bet that the tuner absolutely used every trick in the book and their lifelong skills at this stage to keep Yang Mi at a fairly stable pitch.

However, while the song is beautiful and pleasant to hear, can the so-called loving and being loved really possess infinite power?

"Hello, dear Chen, are you rested? You've been pretending to sleep for over two hours. We'll be in Hong Kong soon; can we talk about work?"

The earphone on Chen Nuo's left side was suddenly taken off, and a voice said this.

He took off his eye mask, opened his eyes, and said with some dissatisfaction: "I wasn't pretending to sleep."

Luo Rui smiled and said: "I don't think so. I was staring at you for ten minutes just now and noticed your butt kept moving around. Well, anyway, you're awake now."

Chen Nuo yawned, turned his head, and said to Gulinazha, who was sitting on the other side of the plane: "Nazha, get me a coffee."

"Okay, Chen Zong."

Although this was a chartered private jet and equipped with a foreign service lady, Chen Nuo was still used to ordering his little assistant around.

After he finished speaking, he turned back, looked at Luo Rui and Qi Yuntian sitting to the side, crossed his legs, and said swaggeringly: "Speak, what do you want to say? Let me hear it."

As the senior representative of Netflix in this collaboration and the producer of this show, Luo Rui did not mind the terrible attitude of her nominal subordinate, a certain executive producer.

It was hard to say if it was because this cooperation method reshaped the traditional production division system of American dramas.

The role of the executive producer was extremely magnified, with power covering the entire chain of creativity, production, and promotion, while the producer was more of a strategic controller for the platform side, not participating in direct project operations, possessing only the final broadcast rights and budget approval rights.

So, strictly speaking, Luo Rui was actually the one who shouldn't be asking about specific matters.

But the woman had no self-awareness of breaching the contract; she glanced at the laptop on the table and said:

"Currently, our company's arrangement for this show is to hope to launch it during the summer slot of July to August next year. That is to say, the production cycle left for our entire team is actually only eight to nine months. This time is already quite tight for a Hollywood crew. So, I think we'd better finalize the next matters quickly so we can arrange them immediately upon getting off the plane. Now, let me tell you the plan I just discussed with Chris. First point, determine the shooting location..."

"Stop, stop, stop." Chen Nuo raised his hand and said: "Relax, Luo Rui, speak slower. Don't be so anxious, okay? Let me remind you, you just mentioned Hollywood, but where are we filming our TV series? Hong Kong. Anyone who knows a little bit about Hong Kong films knows that when the directors here are at their craziest, they can shoot a movie in seven days. Nine months? Forget eleven episodes; I even think they could shoot one hundred and eleven."

Luo Rui turned to look at Qi Yuntian, and Qi Yuntian smiled and shrugged.

At this time, Gulinazha brought the coffee over. Chen Nuo took it, said thank you, took a sip, and continued:

"And oh, I want to remind you, when Reed Hastings was still hesitating, we weren't playing around. Didn't Chris tell you? Never mind the shooting location; we've actually already built up the backbone of the entire team during this time. Executive producer, director, director of photography, costume designer... the core backbone that should be there is almost all there."

As Chen Nuo spoke, he smiled at Luo Rui, "You actually didn't need to disturb my sleep at all, dear Luo Rui. In fact, at this stage, everything for the whole show is already prepared. I mean, everything. I know you're very concerned, but you can actually set your mind at ease now, just like me, and take a nap."

"With you?"

Chen Nuo chuckled and took a sip of coffee, as if he had completely forgotten the vow he had made earlier to "keep his pants zipped." Then again, foreign girls weren't within the scope of that vow anyway.

Luo Rui looked at him for a while, suddenly let out a breath, and placed her hand on the laptop, preparing to close it: "Fine, since you say so, then I really will sleep for a while..." But immediately, looking at the laptop screen, she suddenly laughed out loud: "By the way, I saw something fun in the US earlier, I specifically downloaded it. Come, let me show you."

Saying that, she turned the laptop around.

"What?"

Chen Nuo leaned over, curious.

Luo Rui clicked a video on the desktop, and it started playing immediately.

As he watched, Chen Nuo's originally relaxed expression slowly began to frown.

This was an interview video from the famous CBS program "Face the Nation." Two people appeared on the screen: one was the host Steve Croft, and the other was Donald.

This video was not complete, but it was over ten minutes long. It started with Donald talking incessantly about his campaign platform, with content involving tariffs, Europe, China, and so on.

The topic was very serious, but the way he spoke made it really hard for people to take it seriously. The host clearly didn't take him seriously either, with a half-smile on his face the whole time, and the questions he asked felt like they were all teasing.

Luo Rui laughed on the side: "Interesting?"

"A little. When is this video from?"

"Two weeks ago." Luo Rui shrugged, "I heard he got some money from some fool, finally got through the debt crisis, and then he started high-profile activities again."

She rolled her eyes with disdain, "What campaign for President? It's just wanting to chase some clout. If he's lucky, he can make a name for himself before the Republican primary, and then use 'withdrawing from the race' to trade for some conditions, such as commercial contracts, political resources, or debt forgiveness. These are what he really cares about. In the end, all of this is just to make money."

"However, the most interesting thing is actually to listen to this..."

Luo Rui dragged the progress bar and turned up the volume on the laptop a little.

"Donald, you've said a lot about China, but I've heard that you have a good relationship with Chen Nuo. If you succeed, how do you plan to handle your relationship with him?"

Donald was indeed a talented player; there was no embarrassment on his face at all, and he said a few words while opening and closing his palms.

His answer not only made Luo Rui laugh, but also made Qi Yuntian and Gulinazha, who were watching together, laugh as well.

Chen Nuo laughed along with them.

While laughing, the thoughts in his mind were like a fairy from beyond, full of wild imagination.

If Old Tang really walked the same path as in his previous life, then it is estimated that this question would be asked by reporters countless times in the future.

Just like asking what this BGM is.

And Old Tang, would he also be very serious at the beginning, but later... just "Offerings of Love, then ask about suicide?"

Speaking of which, if there's a chance, I could introduce Yang Mi to Old Tang.

Both are confident people; they should get along very well.

…………

On December 5, 2011, Milkyway Image boss and director Du Qifeng hosted a banquet at the Fook Lam Moon Restaurant in Causeway Bay to entertain the mainland superstar and the representatives of Netflix, the largest streaming platform in the US, who had come to Hong Kong to prepare for the TV series.

This was definitely a grand event that made the Hong Kong paparazzi boil with excitement, and the entertainment marketing accounts on Sina Weibo also ushered in a carnival of traffic once again.

Before 4 o'clock, cannons were already set up on the road opposite the restaurant.

Subsequently, the arrival of big stars and big directors made this place comparable to the scene of the Hong Kong Film Awards, making the trending search term on Weibo that "half of the Hong Kong entertainment industry" went there feel like it was stating a fact, rather than bragging like other times.

There are many reasons for this situation.

The most critical one is that as early as more than two months ago, there was news in the Hong Kong entertainment circle that Huanxin, in conjunction with Netflix, would be filming a web series in Hong Kong. Then it spread more and more outrageously, more and more exaggeratedly. In a situation where a TV series at TVB has a maximum investment of 10 million Hong Kong dollars, and the wealthy Emperor Motion Pictures invests a maximum of 30 to 50 million Hong Kong dollars in a movie, a 10-plus episode TV series with an average production cost of tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars per episode sounds like a ghost story.

But later, the news that came out from Milkyway Image was really like a myth coming into reality. This time, the stagnant film and television circle in Hong Kong in recent years was like a big firecracker thrown into it, and all kinds of gods and ghosts jumped out.

Chen Nuo met many new friends and old acquaintances at the banquet.

Such as Carina Lau, Eric Tsang, Peter Chan, Tsui Hark, including Wong Kar-wai, who was busy preparing for The Grandmaster and came, but only stayed for ten minutes and left in a hurry after chatting with him for a while.

Besides that, the person he talked to the most was Johnnie To, whom he was meeting for the first time but had already called several times and had officially signed a contract to serve as the producer of this show.

Letting Johnnie To serve as the producer was not because he borrowed the ace screenwriter of Milkyway Image and owed a favor, but because Johnnie To was really suitable for this position.

What is a producer?

In many movies and TV series in the mainland, producer is just a nominal title, more to attract investment or raise the value of the project.

But in the real Hollywood production system, this role is one of the core decision-makers throughout the production, sometimes even more important than the director.

The producer is the artistic commander-in-chief, the bridge between creation and reality, responsible for coordinating the entire team, ensuring that the director's creative concept can be implemented without exceeding the budget or delaying the schedule, and also controlling the final artistic quality in post-production editing and sound and picture adjustment.

It is no exaggeration to say that they are the soul of the project.

The core team of Huanxin's Hong Kong branch this time was the group of "interns" who participated in the production process of Warner Bros.' Inception and learned from beginning to end.

They learned the real Hollywood industrial process in that project, and now that they finally had the opportunity to apply what they learned, they naturally wanted to apply the Hollywood production model to film this show in an authentic way—and under this system, the power and importance of the producer were greatly enhanced, and Chen Nuo had to make the final decision himself.

After repeated deliberation, he finally decided to choose Johnnie To.

It was not only because of this person's status in the Hong Kong circle, or because Wai Ka-fai and Yau Nai-hoi of Milkyway Image had participated in the script creation from the beginning, which made the cooperation between the two sides feel like a natural progression.

More importantly, as a producer, one needs to control the style of the entire series, and Johnnie To's aesthetic system was very consistent with the "Eagle Catches Chick" in his mind.

The cold, restrained, and ensemble-based lens language and atmosphere creation in The Mission, Election, and PTU were very similar to the style of the original Squid Game.

When he learned that Johnnie To had directed TV series at TVB as early as the 1980s and was familiar with the TV series production process, he dispelled his hesitation—abandoning Peter Chan, Tsui Hark, Wong Kar-wai, and John Woo, and turning to choose Johnnie To.

To be honest, it still made his heart ache a little.

Peter Chan's humanistic narrative, Tsui Hark's unrestrained imagination, Wong Kar-wai's poetry and blur, and John Woo's violence and romance actually made him very curious. If he let them direct, the things they filmed would definitely make him feel refreshed.

But for the sake of safety, Chen Nuo still had to endure the pain of giving up and chose Johnnie To.

Then he personally dialed the phone and reported the producer fee of 1 million Hong Kong dollars per episode, and Johnnie To was also very straightforward, agreeing directly on the phone.

With Du Qifeng joining, the remaining matters went much more smoothly.

Under Du Qifeng’s recommendation, the director of photography was finally settled as Huang Zhiming, who had previously served as the cinematographer for *Running Out of Time* and *Infernal Affairs*.

The costume designer is Pu Ruomu, who had previously collaborated with them on *The Message*. Although Master Pu won a Golden Horse Award for Republic-era costumes, his true specialty is actually modern attire.

For the art director, the choice was between Zhang Shuping and the art director of *Infernal Affairs*, Tony Au; ultimately, it was decided to choose Zhang Shuping. The hope is that this "Godfather of Hong Kong Film Aesthetics" can use his style—which blends the temperament of old Hong Kong with a modern urban sensibility—to create a more immersive atmosphere.

For the sound director, they invited Lei Songde, who became popular for his work on *Lust, Caution* and *Hero*, to oversee the overall auditory presentation.

The core team that finally took shape encompassed almost all the top-tier talent in the Hong Kong film and television industry.

It was precisely because of this that Chen Nuo had the confidence to say this to Luo Rui Eisner: "Everything is ready."

When Du Qifeng came to chat with him, he thought the producer was going to talk about actor auditions, but unexpectedly, Du Qifeng spoke about another matter with a solemn expression.

"You mean, we can't find a suitable studio in all of Hong Kong?"

Du Qifeng smiled bitterly: "That is the situation now. Our show requires a soundproof studio of at least 3,000 square meters with a ceiling height of over 10 meters, but the indoor studios under TVB are at most 1,500 square meters, and the old Shaw Brothers factory has long been decommissioned. I also thought about going to the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate to rent a large warehouse for renovation, but Hong Kong's approval efficiency is very low. The entire set of procedures—reporting for construction, capital verification, and environmental assessment—takes at least three months, not including the subsequent construction time."

"Damn." Chen Nuo couldn't help but glance at Luo Rui Eisner.

This niece of the Disney tyrant was simply in her element in this kind of setting. Her blonde hair shimmered under the lights, and the red wine glass in her slender hand made her look like a noble young lady raising a toast in an oil painting, leaving the young actors chatting with her, like Shawn Yue and the others, clearly overwhelmed.

"Then what should we do now? What is the solution?" Chen Nuo turned back and asked straightforwardly.

Du Qifeng said: "If there really is no ready-made venue, we might only be able to build one ourselves."

"There is a vacant piece of old industrial land in San Po Kong at the border of Hong Kong and Kowloon, and the transportation is very convenient. We can temporarily build a super-large studio there specifically to serve this show. But it is estimated that the construction will cost 30 million Hong Kong dollars, nearly double the cost of renting. Then there is the time; it will take at least three months to prepare and build, which I fear will affect the original shooting schedule."

Chen Nuo’s lips moved, and he said a sentence.

Du Qifeng asked: "Nuo-zai, what did you say?"

"Love's suicide, asking for offerings again... Just kidding. Let's go take a look tomorrow."

"Good stuff."

……

……

The next day, Chen Nuo took the entire team, drove three cars, and went personally to travel all over Hong Kong to inspect the several sites Du Qifeng had mentioned. He soon discovered that Du Qifeng had indeed not lied to him.

In truth, no one in the world knew better than he did what he wanted. Even Peng Haoxiang and Wei Jiahui, when it came down to it, were only writing out the concepts he had in mind.

He was the type of person who had been in both large and small studios; he didn't need Du Qifeng to explain much. One look and he knew—to meet the requirements in his heart, the existing studios in Hong Kong were indeed not enough.

They were either too small or too old, and it was possible they hadn't been upgraded in twenty years.

So, what to do?

Returning from San Po Kong, several producers and executive producers decided to work overtime, so they gathered the staff at the Huanxin Hong Kong office building on Des Voeux Road East in Sheung Wan to discuss countermeasures overnight.

At this moment, the relaxed look Chen Nuo had while sleeping on the plane was gone. He hadn't said much on the way back, making the atmosphere in the car consistently low and oppressive.

He spoke, and as his voice fell, the room immediately went quiet.

"Then we'll build it ourselves."

With his first sentence, he used English to settle the matter: "We'll build it ourselves."

But the expressions of the dozen or so core members of the production team in the conference room did not lighten because of this. After all, after a day of site visits, everyone was mentally prepared for "self-built studios," but what about the problems?

Du Qifeng frowned. He had anticipated this conclusion, but the problems remained: if they were to build the studio themselves, first, where would the money come from? Second, would there be enough time?

Chen Nuo looked around the conference room and then slowly began to speak: "There are several benefits to building our own studio. First, we can customize it entirely according to the crew's shooting needs, and the results will be the best. Second, this studio can be used for a long time in the future. When we shoot the second season or even other projects in the future, we can continue to use it, saving a large amount of repeated rental expenses. Huanxin Medicine wants to take root in Hong Kong, not hit and run. In the long run, self-building is the most convenient, most economical, and most sustainable way."

"But the downsides are also obvious, just as Director Du said—capital and time."

"We are building the studio for the sake of the drama, and everything revolves around the drama. The funding issue is not hard to solve. 30 million Hong Kong dollars is not a small amount, but if we go over budget, we can find some excuses to have Netflix add more investment. They have already provided tens of millions of US dollars; they won't be stingy about this."

Du Qifeng was slightly startled and glanced at Luo Rui Eisner. He understood what Chen Nuo meant, but he didn't expect him to say it to her face—to say directly in front of the Netflix representative that they intended to swindle their money.

However, the producer opposite—the "blonde beauty" who appeared on the cover of the Hong Kong tabloids today—was just listening intently, not even moving an eyebrow.

Du Qifeng felt a chill in his heart, and he gained a deeper understanding of what Wei Jiahui and You Naihai had said about their "extraordinary relationship."

Chen Nuo paused for a moment and continued,

"The final problem is actually only one, and that is time. We originally had a 9-month production cycle, but if we build our own studio, by the time we finish and officially start shooting, there might only be 6 months, or even 5 months left. With the current method, it is almost impossible to complete a full season of episodes with quality and quantity in such a short time."

"The following is my solution. I suggest we go all the way and have Netflix put up more money so we can adopt a multi-director system. Xiang-zai will act as the lead director to shoot the first two episodes and set the tone, and then we will arrange for several directors to shoot simultaneously."

"The candidates I have in mind currently are Chen Kexin, Xu Ke, Zhang Yimou, Jiang Wen, as well as Wang Jiawei and Wu Yusen. If there are other suitable candidates, everyone can add them. We will discuss it together and see who is suitable."

(End of chapter)